You may have been directed towards different breeding programmes that will produce the coat you would like more consistently. And that’s before you mention colour!

A bit of common sense wouldn’t go amiss here.

Labradoodle breeding starts with a Labrador (short, straight, hair coat) and a Poodle (long, curly, woolly coat). One sheds a lot, one not at all. In fact, total opposites. It is this dissimilarity in genes that possibly makes them such excellent candidates for the benefits of cross breeding.

First generation puppies will take varying amounts of genetic influence from both parents and thus will vary a lot in their coats – somewhere between the two opposites.

The photograph on our home page is of three first generation Labradoodles that we bred. It is a particular favourite of ours. Apart from showing three healthy, happy dogs it is an excellent photograph to show the variation in coats achieved with the first cross.

The general rule would be that the more Poodle-like the coat the less shedding there will be. Although shedding is not always directly linked to allergies, many of which may be more susceptible to the ‘dander’ or dust in many dog coats, and some to dog saliva, it would be fair to say that this type of coat is usually more allergy friendly. It is clear from the photograph on the home page that it is perfectly possible to achieve this type of coat, even in the first cross, but it is more likely to occur in later generations.

Not everyone, of course, have allergies. On the basis that the worst coat shedding of a Labradoodle is minimal compared to a Labrador, there is something for everyone in the diversity of a first generation litter, particularly as the second general rule is that the less Poodle-like the coat the less maintenance is required.

At Kimberlenes we celebrate this diversity as a visible sign of hybrid vigour.